Cencora earnings: fourth quarter of fiscal 2026

Cencora, which moves medicines from drug makers to pharmacies, hospitals and doctors, closed its fiscal year with sales of $88.4 billion in the quarter, up 5.5%. Its own adjusted earnings per share rose 21.4% to $4.66. Most of the gain came from better margins and from OneOncology, a network of cancer practices it bought, which it paid for partly with new debt. For fiscal 2027 it expects adjusted earnings per share of $19.40 to $19.75, up 8 to 10 percent. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Cencora's adjusted earnings per share of $4.66 came in about 2% above the $4.56 analysts expected on average, according to Nasdaq's earnings calendar. On the reported figure of $2.71, which carries acquisition costs and a one-off tax write-down, the quarter sits well below that forecast. ¹²

The strong points

• Cencora's own adjusted earnings per share rose 21.4% from a year earlier, to $4.66. ¹
• Adjusted operating profit, the profit from running the business before interest and tax, grew 22.1% to $1.2 billion. ¹
• Sales grew 5.5% to $88.4 billion, at a similar pace in the US and abroad. ¹

The weak points

• Spending about $5 billion on acquisitions pushed long-term debt up to $11.1 billion, from $7.5 billion a year earlier. ¹
• The bigger debt lifted the quarter's net interest bill by 75%, to $136 million. ¹
• The company expects about $3.5 billion of adjusted free cash flow next year, down from $3.8 billion, even as profit grows. ¹

What the company expects

• For fiscal 2027 Cencora expects adjusted earnings per share of $19.40 to $19.75, up 8 to 10 percent on this year's $17.97. This is its first forecast for that year. ¹
• It expects adjusted operating profit to grow 4% to 6%, with its specialty drugs and cancer-practice business up 18% to 21%. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A strong report. Sales and profit grew, adjusted earnings per share came in a little above what analysts expected, and the company's first forecast for next year points to further growth of 8 to 10 percent, though it carries much more debt than a year ago.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)
• The previous results, for what it forecast then

Notes

1. Cencora's results release, 4 November 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 4 November 2026. ↩